The Star Ferry
A Little Background
For a few Hong Kong dollars, the Star Ferry carries you across Victoria Harbour on boats that have been doing the same crossing, in much the same way, for well over a century. It is at once the cheapest sightseeing in the city and one of its genuine icons — as bound up with Hong Kong's image of itself as the cable cars are with San Francisco.
The service began in 1888, when a Parsee merchant, Dorabjee Naorojee Mithaiwala, started running a steamboat called the Morning Star between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island — carrying his workers and his bread across the water. As demand grew, so did the fleet: Morning Star, Evening Star, Rising Star, Guiding Star, the names all drawn from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem Crossing the Bar — "Sunset and evening star, and one clear call for me." In 1898 the business was sold on and became the Star Ferry Company that still runs it today.
For most of the century that followed, this was simply how you crossed the harbour, until the Cross-Harbour Tunnel opened in 1972. The ferry even has its place in the city's political story: in 1966, a proposed five-cent rise in the fare brought a young man to a hunger strike, and his arrest set off several nights of unrest across Kowloon — remembered now as a turning point in post-war Hong Kong. National Geographic has since named the crossing one of fifty places to see in a lifetime; tens of thousands of residents know it more prosaically, as the way to work.
Crossing the Harbour
Take it slowly, and on purpose. You walk aboard across the gangplank, the deckhand loops the rope, and the boat pulls out into one of the great working harbours of the world — Kowloon falling away behind, the wall of towers on the Island sliding closer, the whole crossing over in under ten minutes now that decades of reclamation have narrowed the water. Ferries pass close enough to read their names. The light comes off the harbour, the engines thrum below, and for the price of almost nothing you have the best seat in the city. It is the rare icon that is also, still, entirely ordinary — a thing people do twice a day without looking up.
The Routes
Two routes run today, both from the Tsim Sha Tsui pier on the Kowloon side:
- Tsim Sha Tsui ‹–› Central — the classic crossing, and the one with the finest approach to the Island skyline.
- Tsim Sha Tsui ‹–› Wan Chai — quieter, handy for the convention centre and the eastern harbourfront.
Upper Deck or Lower?
The upper deck is enclosed and air-conditioned, with the old reversible wooden benches and the highest, cleanest views for photographs. The lower deck is open to the air, a little cheaper, and — our own preference — often the better seat: the breeze comes straight through, you sit in the shade, and you get the sound and smell of the harbour that the upper deck seals out. On a warm mid-morning crossing, downstairs is no compromise at all.
Getting There
On the Kowloon side, the Tsim Sha Tsui pier is a short walk from the promenade and the East Tsim Sha Tsui / Tsim Sha Tsui MTR stations. On the Island side, the Central pier (Pier 7) sits on the reclaimed waterfront near the International Finance Centre and Hong Kong station; the Wan Chai pier is by the convention centre. For how the ferry fits with the MTR, trams and buses, see our guide to Getting Around Hong Kong.
Cost
The Star Ferry remains one of the great bargains in Hong Kong. As of 2026 the Central–Tsim Sha Tsui adult fare is around HK$5.20 lower deck / HK$6.50 upper deck on weekdays, a little more at weekends — a matter of pennies either way. Note: a fare increase has been proposed, so check the current price before you travel. Pay by Octopus card or with coins at the turnstile; hours run roughly 6:30am to 11:30pm, with boats every 6–12 minutes.
Explore Further
External Links
Star Ferry Company website Information: timetables and current fares.
Hong Kong Tourist Board Official information about the Star Ferry and Star Ferry Pier.